Early spring storm brings heavy rain, high winds and snow to parts of Ontario

An early spring storm is bringing high winds and heavy rain to parts of Ontario as Environment Canada warns of significant snowfall in other areas of the province.

The agency has issued rainfall and snowfall warnings for swaths of Ontario, with a messy mix of rain and snow forecast for eastern and northern areas.

The Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton are under a special weather statement with up to 40 millimetres expected to fall by tonight.

Environment Canada says the area could see very strong wind gusts possibly exceeding 80 kilometres.

It says rain will move into Ottawa today before transitioning to up to 20 centimetres of wet and heavy snow, as the agency warns of possible utility outages.

Areas to the north of Sudbury could see up to 25 centimetres of snow, while areas to the south could see heavy rain.